Psalm 90 proclaims with great certainty of faith the constancy of God from the beginning of time to life everlasting:
Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Perhaps in all the changing words of our generation, these words are good to remember and to hold close to heart. As much as turmoil infects relationships close to home and threatens the planet entrusted to our care, God is certain and present. God’s providential love sustains and upholds us.
We measure our lives by change. Seasons of nature change. We grow older. People we love pass from our lives. And yet the beat of creation goes on, re-creating in new and often unexpected ways.
And so we look forward to the changing season in our church life with expectancy and hope. We have had a rich summer in worship, considering thoughtfully some of the great foundational stories that undergird our Judeo-Christian tradition. There have been cosmic scenes of seas parting to allow enslaved people to go free. And we have traversed the great landscape of human emotions from betrayal and forgiveness to heroism and cowardice. Through it all we have witnessed a God who has kept people chosen to bring God’s word to the world true to their mission.
With that same spirit we prepare now for a full resumption of fall activities, from worship and music, to education and mission, to care of one another.
Summer adventure and leisure have led many of us to discover places we have never seen or known, from distant climes to the interior of our souls. We have also spent treasured time in places that we know well and that soothe us from the stresses of life. Through all of this we may know ourselves better now than we did when summer began. Perhaps that self-knowledge and self-awareness will equip us even better to take on the mantle of discipleship to which we were claimed in baptism and which we readjust and renew with each passing season of our lives.
So teach us to count our days
that we may gain a wise heart.
